We Heart Fall

These boys of mine aren't lacking for love any. I feel like we just hop around from place to place letting grandparents love on them and spoil them. Can't wait for #4 to get here and join in on the fun!

On Saturday evening, my stepbrother and sis-in-law Carrie and niece Michaele were in from Fayetteville, so we all gathered at my dad's for an evening of roasting hot dogs and making S'mores!

Playing on an old John Deere

Love that little scrunchy grin

Beckett man!

By the way, this face gets kissed only about a million times a day.

Proof that he even pitches fits on cold grass when it's 40 degrees outside. At least he's consistent.

Driving PawPaw's 4-wheeler!

So, now I see that I didn't get any pictures of the actual roasting. Hmm. Guess I was too busy making sure little ones weren't getting too close to the fire. Oh well, I promise there was fire and wieners and marshmallows!

After lunch on Sunday, we went to Noni's house to play because we were going to her church's fall festival that night!

It was so cold all weekend. I feel like my kids look like little Michelin Men in all of these pictures!

Then, it was finally time to get them dressed in their costumes and head to the fall festival at Knowles! This is the church that I grew up in and Brent and I attended until we moved to Wyatt a few years ago. It will always feel like home there! We love coming back to visit!

Ninja Brody! Ki-Ya!!!

Sweet little sock monkeys Levi and Eden. Poor Eden was sick and ended up leaving early.

And my Saggy Baggy Elephant, Beckett!

Levi loved playing the ball toss game - Julie even helped him win a fish! :)



Brody with Woody, the scarecrow!

We had so much fun at the Knowles Fall Festival! And we have many more fun fall activities ahead!

Soccer Practice

Soccer season is more than half over already, and I will admit that a tiny part of me is glad. Brody just hasn't been into it this year like he has been in the past. I don't know if it's that he doesn't really know anyone on his team or what, but he just half tries out there. It's been frustrating for us, because that is not Brody. When it comes to sports he usually gives it everything he's got...and then some. Maybe he is just going to be a baseball guy. He did tell me one day last week that he was ready for pitching machine to start. A boy after my own heart :)

He had soccer practice at the park last night, and I could tell he really had fun.

He is so good at it when he actually tries. I am so glad that he is such a natural little athlete. Everything comes so easy to him. He has more athletic ability in his pinky finger than I have EVER had. I'm proud for him. It's not fun not being able to throw a ball more than 20 feet or even hit the rim when playing basketball. Ha!

I love to watch him play! I look so forward to all those years of watching him play ball!!

Brent wasn't able to make it to practice because of work, so I had to entertain these two while Brody was practicing. It definitely helped that practice was at the park today, but man, I totally wish I could clone myself every once in a while. It was tough trying to chase Levi (he moves NONSTOP), help Beckett across the monkey bars, and keep an eye on Brody making sure he was paying attention to his coach. But we made it!

 

Petting Zoo!

After picking Brody and Brooke up from school on Wednesday, we were driving behind the mall when we noticed a little safari/petting zoo was set up! The kids wanted to stop, so we did!!

Brody loved the tiger, Beckett thought the camel was super neat, but their favorite, surprisingly, was the little goats! Ha! Guess their Aunt Brooke has rubbed off on them a little :)

Pumpkin Decorating

The big boys had been asking to decorate a pumpkin, so I finally decided that today was the day. After school, I asked them how they wanted to decorate it, and instead of paint, they wanted to decorate it with the Halloween stickers they got in their McDonald's happy meals! Easy enough! So, I plopped a pumpkin down in front of them, handed them their stickers, and they got to work!

You can tell by Beckett's faces in the next two pictures that he did not approve of Levi trying to help him.

I tried to distract Levi so that Brody and Beckett could work alone...

But he just wasn't having it. He wants to be a part of everything they do. We had to teach him that he couldn't remove the stickers they already had on, and they were all happy.

They worked and worked...

And were so proud of their "stickered" pumpkin!

This little guy is so busy these days...every picture I have of him is blurry!

Even after his other two brothers grew tired of stickering, Beckett man stayed and worked until he has his side of the pumpkin was just how he wanted it. Love his dedication! I think he is going to be a bit more of a perfectionist than his older brother. :)

I have to say, that was the easiest pumpkin project ever!

Inching Closer

Anxiety is definitely starting to pick up as we inch our way closer to that 4-6 month mark. We will hit 3 months next month, and several families from our agency have gotten referrals in the last couple weeks, all right around the 4 month mark. That would be December for us!! Ahhh!!! Now, one thing our case workers have warned us about is how dangerous it can be to compare our journey to others. We are well aware that referrals could slow down as we near the end of the year, and they could also be slow to start back up again after the new year. We could be Spring (or later!) before we get that call. But as long as we keep that in our mind, it's so fun to hear of others' stories and know that we aren't all that far behind :)

Some sweet friends' that we met at our adoption seminar in May, The Harrison's (www.freshentity.com), just got their referral this week!!! It was so fun to rejoice with her about their wonderful news, and it also made it seem a little more real for us. Does that make sense? Sometimes in this process, part of you wonders if this will ever really happen. I try to imagine what it'll be like the day they call us with a file and send us that picture. And tell us that this is our child. That's just so amazing that I can't even begin to fathom it. In fact, it's so amazing and such a dream of ours, that sometimes I still don't feel like its real. But to see it really happen to someone who we've been walking this journey with. Someone just a couple months ahead of us in the process. Wow. It just made my heart so happy. They have a son! I just pray they can bring him home soon.

I just want to document these moments and feelings and little things that happen along the way. I may not remember months down the road how much it helped my heart to hear of our friends' great news, so I want it all written down.

On a fun note, we've been brainstorming names lately. Golly gee, it's hard to come up with a 4th boy name. We have a few ideas (And Brody has a few of his own!), and I really would like to have decided by the time we are matched. I would love for our friends and family to be able to pray for him by name!

One more thing, our sweet friends', Brooke and Billy Sneed, leave for China in a few days to pick up their sweet daughter, Carolina Grace! Please pray for safe travels for them and for their adjustment to be as smooth as possible. We can't wait to welcome this precious little girl home!

Photo catch-up!

Without a working laptop, I feel like I just can't stay caught up on my blogging. But here are a few of my favorite iPhone pictures from the last couple weeks!